Individual Therapy

We offer a range of individual therapy services including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy and mindfulness and acceptance based treatments. Our individual therapy is focused upon addressing the problems in your life most affecting your quality of life including problems related to mood, anxiety, substance use, anger and impulsivity, among a range of other concerns. We have clinicians who also have additional expertise dealing with more severe problems such as suicidal ideation, trauma, self-harm and psychosis. These one-on-one sessions occur for 50 minutes per week with the length of the treatment dependent on your individual needs.

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychological treatment used to help people with a variety of different mental health problems. CBT is based on the idea that psychological difficulties often result from the interplay of thinking patterns, emotions, actions, and situations. Learning CBT can give you greater insight in the types of thought patterns that generate your depressive, anxious, angry or many other problematic and distressing emotions and reactions that are having a significantly negative impact on your life.

Research has suggested that CBT should be considered the first line of treatment for depressive and anxiety disorders, it is that effective.

CBT will target the hopeless and negativistic thoughts in depression, the helpless and catastrophic thoughts that trigger anxiety and, overall, the types of thoughts that negatively impact a person’s mental health. CBT involves learning to identify problematic patterns of thinking, emotions and actions and to change behaviours and develop new coping skills.

CBT is particularly effective for depression, anxiety disorders, problems with anger, and general stress. There is also evidence that CBT is helpful for people struggling with substance use problems, symptoms of psychosis , chronic pain, and other problems.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment. Originally, this treatment was designed for individuals who were in frequent crisis, suicidal and struggled with coping with their day to day life. DBT has now been validated for a variety of other disorders, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, addictions, eating disorders, mood disorders, impulse control disorders, personality disorders, and for those with other self-injurious behaviours. The main goal of this treatment is to assist people in improving their quality of life.

DBT works best when you participate in both group and individual skills training. You will learn new skills to help you learn to better identify and cope with your emotions, better tolerate distress and learn more effective ways of communicating in a skills-based training course. In individual therapy you will focus on reducing or stopping problematic behaviours that interfere with achieving your goals, address crises and learn how to tailor the DBT skills to your needs. Between session skills coaching is also available with your individual therapist.

Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) is an empirically supported treatment that addresses challenges that can arise when an individual’s reactions to, and processing of emotions has become problematic – in turn causing challenges to mental health and quality of life. This therapy focuses upon an individual becoming more aware of her or his emotional experience and better able to process and experience emotions adaptively – rather than avoiding or otherwise experiencing emotions in a way that lead to maladaptive responses. With an evidence base in areas such as grief, depression, and anxiety, this modality facilitates a stronger and healthier connection to the experience of emotions – with individual sessions having a focus upon moving from emotions routinely causing distress to their being an integrated aspect of the person’s sense of self and resilience.

Contact us:

info@westendpsych.ca

416-535-9377

508-27 Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M6R 3B2

It is not primarily our physical selves that limit us but rather our mindset about our physical limits.

Ellen J. Langer

2019-02-14T17:21:55-04:00

Ellen J. Langer

It is not primarily our physical selves that limit us but rather our mindset about our physical limits.